The Portland daily press., 1887-01-11
Prison Labor.

Before election Gov. Bodwell wrote let
ter to carriage manufacturer on the subject
of prison labor, in which he said;
1t Is question which has occupied my mind
considerably and agree with you that something
terfere with the honest business OF enterprising
citizens. What is TO be zone Is problem which
am not prepared to solve at present but shall
give the matter very serious attention. have
thought Of several ways by which the embarrass-
ment it has upon certain business enterprises
ever. / shall go heart aud hand in any measure
that may appear the most feasible to my mind to
relieve the wants Of such business men as the said
labor interferes with.
In his inaugural address speaking of the
same subject, he uses this language
1t was my pleasure to pay visit to the State
prison, the detailed condition of which will be
found IN the reports of the warden and inspectors.
carriage making, is Of very excellent order: The
carriages think, are not sold at prices to inter-
fere with the rights or interests of the citizens Of
the State who are engaged in the same line Of
business. 1t is, Of course, necessary TO keep the
prisoners engaged in work, both with the view to
their Improvement and reformation. 1t would be
utterly Cruel to keep them In ideness, and it
would be utterly useless to work them except to
some good end II the number of convicts was
very large. 1t would not be fair TO engage them
all upon one line OF business in competition with
any special class OF workmanship In the State.
snat sne node q ~ n,
est citizens In their calling there should be such
division Of the labor of the prison as would make
interference in any specific direction SO small that
no special influence would be felt from it.
The carriage manufacturers seem to think
that these two statements of opinion are not
consistent, and that the Governor is talking
differently now that he is elected from what
he did before election. The inconsistency
is more apparent than real, however. In
the first letter he assumed, doubtless on the
strength of something the manufacturer
wrote him, that the manufacture of car
riages in the prison unfayorably affected out
side manufacturers and expressed the opin-
ion that something should be done to remedy
1t. After visiting the prison and talking
with the inspectors and the warden he was
inclined to the opinion that the carriages
were not sold at such prices as to interfere
with the rights of the citizens engaged in the
same line. But he recommends that if the
present mode of working the prisoners
should prove hurtful to honest citizens in
their calling there should be such division
of labor Of the prisoners as would make in
reference In any specific direction SO small
that no special influence would be felt from
it," Practically what he does is to suggest
that the matter be investigated with a view
Of determining whether the competition of
the prisoners is hurtful or not, and if it is
shown to be hurtful then he offers a remedy
The carriage manufacturers ought to be sat
isfied with this position.
From what investigation the PRESS has
been able to make it is very strongly of the
opinion that the manufacture Of carriages
at the prison as at present carried on does
work injustice to private manufacturers
The advertisements put out by the prison
agents promise to sell the carriages at a low
err price than they can be sold by any private
manufacturer, and boldly declare that the
reason this can be done is because the labor
employed upon them costs but 40 cents day.
This is unfair competition.